Finally my name was called. Of course I'm the last to be called, oh shut up, I think to myself. Stop complaining, you're just nervous.
I go up to the stool and sit, with my back straight of course. I also make sure to scan the crowd, find out anything I could, before I get placed and people will look at me differently. Now, I could be a part of any of their families so they are all willing to accept me now. Once I am placed mutual hatreds may form. Then the hat is placed on my head and I focus on it.
"Let's see what we have here." There was a pause, "You are difficult, more difficult than what I normally see…" The hat sort of rambled of from there, almost shouting out a house name and then stopping himself. It seemed that whenever it almost called a house, it found a reason not to put me there.
Finally he shouted "HEADMASTER, I NEED TO SPEAK WITH YOU."
The headmaster came over right away. "What is it?" I look up and realize I had been sitting there for quite some time. "Miss, would you mind sitting over with the Gryffindors, whilst I speak with the sorting hat?"
"Of course, Headmaster."
I walk over there, tilting my head slightly so that my bangs fell forward so that no one would see me watching. Everyone seemed to whispering, staring. I probably looked shamed, but people could think all they want. If being part of shadows and ignored for most of my life taught me anything is that you must always watch for the tiny things as well as the large.
Hermione, Neville and Ginny
"What do you think is going on up there?" Ginny whispered to Hermione. Conversations all over the hall had broken out.
"I have no idea; no one's ever not been able to be sorted before."
"Well, the hat has almost sorted her seven times. Twice she was almost put in Gryffindor, once in Hufflepuff, thrice in Ravenclaw and once in Slytherin. And how would you know, you've only been here one year." Said Fred.
"One day you all might read Hogwarts: A History." Hermione replied with a sigh.
"She must be terrified; she's been up there for almost five minutes. Yet, she is still sitting there still as stone." said Neville.
"I don't think she has even twitched."
"I hope she is in Gryffindor."
Just then she started walking down toward our table, we had not noticed the headmaster walk over to her, and Neville moved over so she could sit there.
"Hello." she said, as she sat down next to him, noticing the obvious gesture.
"Hey, why didn't the sorting hat call out your house yet?"
"I haven't been sorted yet. The headmaster told me to come sit at the Gryffindor table."
"Oh," said Ginny looking slightly disheartened.
Draco
"What? She hasn't even been sorted, and she's going over to the Gryffindor table." I sneered.
"Yeah, why's it they get all the interesting people." said Goyle.
"Shut it, Golye."
"Draco, why do you care if some brat is sorted into Gryffindor?" asked Pansy, leaning forward.
"I don't."
Dumbledore
"Well, what are we to do? The sorting hat can't find a house for her, so where do we place her?"
"Why don't we let the students and facility decide? She will spend a week or so in each of the houses and at the end of first quarter we will decide which house she shall belong to." Said Professor McGonagall.
"Yes, that's a fine idea, but with the threat of the Chamber being opened as well?"
"We will have to make do, Minerva. She has every right to be here."
"I know she belongs here, but how will we organize this?"
"We will have to let faith take its course."
Hermione, Neville and Ginny
"Oh, where are Harry and Ron?"
"I don't know, Hermione. You've asked that every hour since we got on the train."
"I know. It's just that they missed the train and I'm sure they're going to do something stupid."
"If by stupid, you mean bloody brilliant." said Neville, "I just heard that they flew a car here."
"That is not good!"
Professor McGonagall started down towards them. "Look, Professor McGonagall is coming over."
"Anastasia, would you please come with me?" she asked when she got here.
"Of course, professor." she said and got up gracefully. Seeming to ignore everyone watching her, but of course she was watching everyone just as they were watching her. Professor McGonagall walked her out of the hall, to an office.
The headmaster was waiting for them with another professor. "Ah, hello. We have two students dining in Professor Snape's office and thought you would like to accompany them for now until we figure out your living arrangements." he said with a twinkle in his eye,
"Yes, sir." she said. Anastasia walks into the room, where two boys, maybe a year older than her were talking.
"Hello." she says, startling them. They had been talking about a flying car.
"Hullo." The boy with bright red hair replied and she sat in the chair across the table. "You probably shouldn't sit there, that's Snape's chair."
"They brought me in here and I don't see any reason not to."
"Ok, but he will be really mad if he comes back in here and sees you sitting there. Unless you're in his house, they get away with everything with Snape around."
"Ok, then I don't think I'll get in trouble."
"You're in Slytherin?" he said, coughing up juice.
"I haven't been sorted yet. I'm Anastasia, and you are?" she says, putting a very elegant tone to her words.
"I'm Harry and this is Ron." says Harry, whom had not spoken until then.
"What do you mean, you haven't been sorted? Professor McGonagall said the sorting was over."
"And it is. I just was not." They looked bewildered.
"That doesn't make any sense." Ron said.
"Well, it's true."
"I wonder how that's going to work out."
"So, where are you from?"
"Tandridge." Anastasia didn't like sharing information about herself, at least until she got to know the person, "And you are from?"
"Surrey."
"Devon."
They sat eating in silence for a bit.
"So, what's the school like?"
"It's great here. The classes are really interesting. And the teachers are nice."
"Some." Ron interrupted.
"Well, some aren't all that good. Snape's rotten."
"To anyone not in Slytherin. It really makes you hate him even more."
"What does he teach?"
"Potions."
"You should eat something." Ron said, pointing to the plate and goblet that had appeared.
Anastasia picked a sandwich of the tray then asked, "What's this?" pointing to the jug.
"Pumpkin juice." both boys said at once. She took the jug and filled her goblet.
"That's really good." She said after she drained the goblet.
"Wow, Ron, you've got some competition for the biggest appetite in the school." Harry whispered to Ron, having noted that Anastasia had made both the jug and platter refill at least twice.
"I heard that." Anastasia says, "But I do eat a lot. It's probably not very healthy though."
"Are you kidding? Ron eats twice as much and he's fine."
"OI! I don't eat that much!" says Ron, mock angry.
"Well, we should get to the common room.
"Where do you suppose I should go?"
"I guess you could come with us to the common room, seeing as you might be in Gryffindor."
"Ok." Anastasia had abandoned the hard cold elegant tone of voice for something much more friendlily by this time.
"Come on." They walk down the corridor and to the tower. Anastasia focused on memorizing it along the way. When they got to the doorway, she slipped from her façade a bit.
"There is a fat lady in a picture guarding your dorm?" she asked.
"Of course." Harry said looking confused. "Are you from a wizard family?"
"No, why?"
"Well, the pictures here move." Just then the fat lady asked "Password?"
"Harry, we don't know the password!"
"There you are! Where have you been? The most ridiculous rumors - someone said you were expelled for crashing a flying car-"
"We'll we haven't been expelled." Harry assured the girl who had come running up, Hermione.
"You're not telling me you did fly here?" she asked.
"Skip the lecture and tell us the new password." said Ron impatiently.
"It's 'wattlebird'" Hermione said impatiently, "but that's not the point-"
Her words were cut short, however, as the portrait of the fat lady swung open and there was a storm of clapping. It looked as if the whole of Gryffindor house was still awake, packed into the circular, standing on the lopsided tabled and squashy armchairs, waiting for them (Harry and Ron) to arrive. Arms reached out to pull Ron and Harry inside, leaving Anastasia and Hermione to scramble in after them. Everyone started shouting at them.
"You should've lectured them and then told them the password."
"I guess, they wouldn't have listened to me anyways. So, they did sort you into Gryffindor?" she asks and Anastasia shakes her head.
"I really don't know what I'm supposed to be doing or where I'm supposed to be."
"Well, we should go up to the dorms to see if there is a bed prepared for you." So, they pushed their way through the crowd, which was difficult, but Ron and Harry were having a much harder time getting to their dorm. The girls climbed the steps to the first year's dorm, and saw four bunks with chests sitting at the end and one without anything at the end of it except the things you would need to stay a night somewhere. Anastasia walked over and picked up a note that was on top of the small bundle. It read:
Dear Anastasia,
If you would like to stay the night here, that would be fine. The Headmaster wishes to see you after breakfast and before your first class tomorrow. You are free to eat with the Gryffindors if you wish.
From, Head of Gryffindor Professor McGonagall.
"I guess I'm bunking the night here." Hermione said Goodbye and went to her dorm, and then the other girls crowded around Anastasia's bunk.
"So you're the girl who wasn't sorted?"
"Hi, I'm Ginny; I meet you when you came over to our table."
"Why don't you think you were sorted?"
"So are you going to stay in Gryffindor?"
Anastasia gave everything a thought and decided how she was going to act.
"Oh, I don't know, but it is interesting don't you think? Being the first person ever not to be sorted." She put emphasis on the ever.
"It is interesting. I wonder why you couldn't be sorted."
"Yeah, maybe the Headmaster will explain it all tomorrow. Well, I'm tired, we should get to bed."
The other girls agreed and Anastasia went to change and wash up, she couldn't help but admire how beautifully the rooms were made- probably by magic. Though that almost sounded like cheating, it was every impressive. The detail in everything was so fine, she would have thought it would look more machine made than crafted by skilled hands.
She gave a yawn and shut her curtains around her bed, thinking of how strange tomorrow might be. She then quickly fell asleep on the softest bed she's ever slept in, but her rest was not peaceful.